Late and Missing Package Policy

Unfortunately it is getting more difficult to ship packages every day. The USPS Postal Service has been declining quickly over the last few years.  Gone are the days when you can contact anyone or expect any help and support from USPS. 

Tracking shows delivered but it's not there!!

Sorry, this is becoming more common but there is little I can do about it other than force everyone to pay much higher shipping costs. While problems like this are increasing, it's still far too rare to deserve such drastic measures. 

Filing a claim with USPS
I have tried filing claims for customers in the past and quite often what seems to happen is that if I hear anything from USPS at all, it is usually a simple "We show it delivered to the address". Since I am the shipper and not the recipient there isn't much I can say to them at that point. All I have is a claim that the customer didn't receive it. I can't answer any follow-up questions or assert that I didn't receive the package and they must be mistaken. 

The customer filing the claim has more bite
If I file the claim it is from third hand information. I've only been told the package didn't arrive. I don't know the situation, the environment, the chance of theft, how vigilant the recipient has been, if the package could be hidden somewhere or fallen behind something, picked up by a spouse or roommate, etc... If it's what I've been told VS what USPS tells me, USPS will win every time. 

So it is my policy that in the case of USPS tracking shows delivered but it's not there: The recipient must open the case

How to open a missing package claim

Letter mail
About 10% of letter mail orders experience delay adding 1-3 weeks onto delivery. Most of those delayed orders eventually arrive. Maybe 2-3% are permanently lost and that could be from miss-delivery, address problems and customers overlooking the mail or mistaking it for junk. 

Package Mail (USPS Ground Advantage)
These can also experience long delays and USPS offers no guaranteed delivery time. Missing package claims are difficult to start and rarely result in helpful information. USPS offers a 30-60 day window to file an insurance claim. Too soon or too late and they will reject it. 

Priority Mail
Better than Ground Advantage but USPS no longer offers a guaranteed delivery time. From my experience they usually push these through faster if there is a bottleneck somewhere. Delivery time is usually 1-3 days faster than Ground Advantage and missing or delayed packages are less likely.

UPS
Good tracking and they provide photos of the delivered package to the recipient. I don't ship UPS every day and never on weekends so it's possible there may be a slight delay in shipment.  

FedEx
FedEx is new for me but they offer some good rates on envelope shipping world wide. Like UPS, I don't ship every day and never on weekends.